Technology Enhanced Learning

Is it possible that a bevy of questions could highlight the differences and similarities in another’s school system? If so, what questions would you ask about the other system?

In preparing the “Connecting within the Unconnected Classroom Project”, an international global project where I’m hoping to bring together educational technologists with those teaching in limited technology and connectivity situations, I have been thinking of ways to help a diverse group of educators come to a greater awareness about the “heart” of the school systems of team members from around the world. I’m not talking about the ‘corporate line’ that is touted on Ministry of Education websites but rather the learning culture as communicated by the educators within the system.

To aid in organizing the questions, I thought I’d try to use a “Contextualized Education” filter since I feel context is a necessary thread to weave through the project. Here are the context headings I have proposed for the questions:

• The People in the System (students, teachers, principals, superintendents, Ministry officials, parents, community people)
• Curriculum and Content of Learning including the media used
• Assessment
• Support (Technical, Learning supports for students & teachers)
• Physical Space and Equipment (bricks, mortar, hardware/software)
• Nature and space of learning (collaborative, teacher-directed, project-based, independent, system mandates, etc.)
• Policies, Administration and Mandates (political arm of education)

(loosely based on “Essential Conditions”, “What is Context” and “ICT Impact Monitoring and Evaluation Framework”)

Are there any contexts in which education, learning or teaching occurs that are missing from the above list? I’ve started the list of questions on the project wiki here and am very interested in having others add or edit.

Recently, George Siemens reported on his trip to Accra, Ghana for a conference on E-learning in June, 2008 . His post “E-Learning Africa “ lists six lessons that he learned from the experience. At least three of the lessons George listed resonated with me – I am going on my 10^th year as an international consultant and teacher – Over these years I have worked in China, UAE, Jordan and Sri Lanka. I have learned much about the educational systems in these countries and am constantly reminded how much more I must learn if I am to be effective in aiding education in the countries I work.

It takes a lot of conversations to truly understand the plight of teachers, students, schools, and Ministries in any country different from that which nurtured one’s own educational ideals. To this end, I have started a small global project that hopes to join people who have an area of specialization in Education and a desire to learn more about other educational systems. I’m hoping to join educators from all around the world with teachers and students from classrooms with limited technology and connectivity. I’m not sure what the end product will be because it depends on the people who join on and the issues/initiatives they wish to tackle. Right now, it will mostly focus on teacher professional development through a participatory action research lens however, the ideal is to actually see classroom learning activities focusing on increasing the 21^st Century Skills of students in developing countries. I sense there will be much to gain for everyone on the team, no matter their background, connectivity and experience.

The main idea is to work at solutions that reflected in three of George’s lessons…. – solutions which are:

Based on sound academic principles - “driven by commitment to core values and existing difficult conditions” (#5),

Cognizant of the financial and political agendas for education reform and therefore not simply an ‘extension of the ideals of development agencies and governments who provide funding’ (#4) and

Contextualized not an “export of ‘our’ solutions to problems we don’t fully understand” (#6).

A notworthy comment based on the last point above came from  Karyn commenting on George’s post,

….. thank you so much for pointing out that “We are exporting our solutions to problems we don’t fully understand.” I keep saying this and I get the impression that people just roll their eyes at me. We keep talking about the flat world. I can’t say this emphatically enough: IT IS NOT FLAT. We collect in our so-called global conferences and Africa is not present. We discuss the issues that face us and come up with solutions. But we haven’t got a clue about the problems that face those who are not present. Yet we blithely expect them to apply our solutions. I’m sorry, but it smacks of “Let them eat cake.”

I am hoping to gather a team of great teachers and educational technologists from across the globe and particularly from developing countries to investigate effective technology integration and 21^st Century Skills uptake in the developing world’s classrooms. I’m hopeful that through a focused approach of reaching out to those in the ‘unflat world’ - this project will not smack of “L.T.E.C.” - the first step will be the learning, awarenes and understanding from those in the ‘connected’ world of the diverse situations elsewhere.  Admittedly, the hardest part of this initial phase is connecting with teachers, students and administrators in technology/connectivity limited situations.

I’m inviting anyone with such interests to join the “Connecting within the Unconnected Classroom Project”. You can find out more (and add to) this wiki: http://unconnectedclassroom.wetpaint.com/ .

To join the team, become a member of the “Unconnected Classroom Project” group in the Classroom 2.0 Ning and post an introduction.

[a version of this posting was submitted as a comment to George’s post]

I’m seeking a different conversation about technology in the classroom. I want to talk about pre-requisites. What needs to be in place prior to an onslaught of technology in a classroom to ensure effective technology integration? What teaching mindset does the teacher need and what learning mindset is going to be the greatest help for the students? What type of content, assessment, and skills should be in place prior to technology enhanced learning to help a school leverage the learning technology is known to? What pedagogical skills and knowledge would amply prepare a teacher who is about to face an electronic whiteboard, a new XO computer lab or 1:1 computing environment? Let’s think about igniting the learning and the environment prior to the technology spark!

It’s really not too late for this conversation – school computers are not ubiquitous yet. Just in May, 2008 the US National Education Association (NEA) report Access, Adequacy and Equity concluded:

“The number of computers in public school classrooms was not adequate to use computers effectively for classroom instruction, and the classroom was not the main location in school where most students used computers. More than half of public school educators had no more than two computers available for students’ use in their classroom or primary work area, and that level of access was inadequate for educators to use computers effectively in classroom instruction.”

So we’ve still got time for a different conversation leading to a different approach!

Not counting chalk, blackboards, pens, etc. we’ve been sneaking learning technologies into the classroom for well over 25 years. Discouragingly, we have yet to reach the transformational point, where learning becomes a totally different beast, unrecognizable from the classrooms of yore. I wonder if we will reach such a tipping point in my lifetime and what technologies, teaching strategies, brain research or training techniques will bring us to such change? For a world that is changing so quickly, changes in the education system seem so painfully slow.

Rather than just griping, I’ve decided to pursue an idea that’s been brewing in my head… Why do some technologies take so long to go mainstream in schools? My idea might be considered backward but what I want to do is gather a group to investigate and react to “Connecting within the Unconnected Classroom” (CUC2).

The premise of the project is this – There are many classrooms around the world and particularly in developing countries, where immersive technology-enhanced learning is still quite a few years away. Yet, for these students, gaining 21^st Century Skills is as important to their future as those in 1:1 laptop situations. As we know, the technology does not necessarily build the skills, there are many other factors involved such as assessment philosophies, teacher advancement policies, curriculum, teacher/learning support mechanisms, Ministry policies, etc. Therefore, the main question being addressed in the project is, what can be done at the classroom level to prepare students from schools with limited technology and connectivity to be effective 21^st Century workers? I believe much can be learned about technology integration, in general, by such a streamline approach.

The project can have many different angles:

1) What are the soft-skills a 21^st Century worker needs and how do you develop these in limited technology/connectivity classrooms?

2) What soft skills are required by students and teachers for effective adoption of classroom ICT’s?

3) How should students in classrooms with limited technology/connectivity focus on such things as digital, media and information literacies?

4) What classroom situations or teacher skills are good prerequisites for successful adoption of future classroom technologies and internet access for educational purposes?

5) Realizing that both technology and connectivity will reach most classrooms in the future, how should the learning culture change in the classroom, school, district, and ministry levels in advance of the technology to make the impending changes viral?

6) What types of professional learning would be best suited to preparing teachers for the inclusion of technologies and greater connectivity in their teaching strategies?

7) What powerful approaches can we suggest for technology limited and connection-poor school boards to leverage what is known about teacher training, 21st Century Skill Development, and Effective Technology Integration?

How do we ensure there continues to be a drive towards technology acquisition and connectivity at the district level while we focus on 21^st Century Soft Skills in the classroom and schools?

The people I’m hoping to join me in this project will come from a variety of backgrounds and have the following characteristics:

• K-12 Educators teaching in classrooms like our sample classroom
• Educators who are training teachers for environments similar to our sample classroom
• Education Technologists who are interested in the challenge of assisting teachers who are operating in technology-limited and poorly connected classrooms, schools, districts. (Or those currently operating in such)
• Technology-Savvy teachers who teach from connected and high-tech classrooms and want the challenge of helping teachers not in your situation.
• Teachers who are in unconnected and low-tech classroom who apply 21st Century learning literacies

From a commitment standpoint, I am projecting that CUC2 will end after 5-6 months of investigations and ventures. Admittedly, it has the potential to expand into something more permanent but only if we build it with sustainability and self-sufficiency in mind. We will explore the issues using synchronous and asynchronous means and for the first while, there will be regular weekly ‘meetings’. I am hopeful the group will agree to submit a proposal to the K-12 Open Conference which commences in October.

I have started to build a ‘Connecting within the Unconnected Classroom’ breadcrumb trail across the web. Here is where you can learn more or add to the action:

• Connecting Within the Unconnected Classroom Wiki
• Classroom 2.0 Ning – Connecting Within the UnConnected Classroom Group
• Add bookmarks and comments in the Diigo Group
• The UnConnected Classroom Project Information Page

Basically throughout the project, as Dave Cormier recently told Alec Couros in a tweet about deciphering a Ricky Jay, Magician-Video : “to take some of the magic out, mute it and put another screen over everything but the hands” - What I’m asking of Educational Technologists who join in the project, is to take some of the ‘magic’ out of the technologies in the classroom and get down to the important stuff – in magic, it’s the hands… in the classroom, it’s the learning!

I hope you will consider joining me or helping me out by sending this posting to people who fit our team-member target groups!

Flip through about 10 slides from each of the following presentations:

Exhibit #1:

| View | Upload your own

Exhibit #2:

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And Exhibit #3:

| View | Upload your own

Which one of the three is the best? …. My answer is - “It Depends”

All too often we want to point our finger at powerpoints and talk about how terrible they can be. Usually the very top example is at the brunt of such chatter. However, I think we really need to be more discriminating in our distaste for such wordy slides. Admittedly, to sit through #1 Presentation in a workshop or other public forum would be a killer! However, imagine Exhibit #3 in the same environment - those slides are perfect by themselves, they are beautiful in their simplicity and do not need an ‘interpreter’ between me and the information. I would ‘die’ just the same as #1, if the #3 slides were ‘presented’ to me! Exhibit #2, I’d call your typical “Modern Day” presentation - Big Images, fewer words - it’s format says, “I am a support tool for a talk”. It is clearly not meant to stand alone.

So what happens when these slideshows are moved to a repository? They now have a different purpose (I believe) but their format has not changed. As an information source, Exhibit #1 wins out. As entertainment and something worth sharing #3 stands out. As part of an archive showing good presentation examples and a legacy artifact of “What I did at ‘X’ conference”, Exhibit #2 is the winner.

It makes me wonder the motives for people using slideshare (and I am one of them!). Note-to-self…. think about re-formatting my presentation slides before adding them to such sites as slideshare if its the content I want to share. For me, slides like Exhibit #2, do not ‘recreate the talk’ or provide the depth of information, but they are great in sharing design and presentation ideas for the next live presentation I may do!

As much as people are shocked by Exhibit #1-type slides, I believe there is a place for them - as a web-product, for independant learning. Do not make me sit through a presentation of such slides but do continue to provide such online…Some might say, why not just provide a print out? I say to the author, thanks for the online ‘environment friendly’ ppt mini-book - I was able to get the information quickly, in a pleasing format and you did not have to learn desktop publishing!